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1. How do you define hacking?
Hacking is, very simply, asking a lot of questions and refusing to stop asking. This is why computers are perfect for inquisitive people -- they don't tell you to shut up when you keep asking questions or inputting commands over and over and over. But hacking doesn't have to confine itself to computers. Anyone with an inquisitive mind, a sense of adventure and strong beliefs in free speech and the right to know most definitely has a bit of the hacker spirit in them.
2. Are there legal or appropriate forms of hacking?
One of the common misconceptions is that anyone considered a hacker is doing something illegal. It's a sad commentary on the state of our society when someone who is basically seeking knowledge and the truth is assumed to be up to something nefarious. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Hackers, in their idealistic naiveté, reveal the facts that they discover, without regard for money, corporate secrets or government coverups. We have nothing to hide, which is why we're always relatively open with the things we do -- whether it's having meetings in a public place or running a system for everyone to participate in regardless of background. The fact that we don't "play the game" of secrets also makes hackers a tremendous threat in the eyes of many who want to keep things away from the public.
Secrets are all well and good, but if the only thing keeping them a secret is the fact that you say it's a secret, then it's not really a very good secret. We suggest using strong encryption for those really interested in keeping things out of the hands of outsiders. It's interesting also that hackers are the ones who are always pushing strong encryption -- if we were truly interested in getting into everyone's personal affairs, it's unlikely we'd try and show them how to stay secure. There are, however, entities who are trying to weaken encryption. People should look toward them with concern, as they are the true threat to privacy.
3. What in your mind is the purpose of hacking?
To seek knowledge, discover something new, be the first one to find a particular weakness in a computer system or the first to be able to get a certain result from a program. As mentioned above, this doesn't have to confine itself to the world of computers. Anyone who's an adventurer or explorer of some sort, or any good investigative journalist, knows the feeling of wanting to do something nobody has ever done before or find the answer despite being told that you can't. One thing that all of the people involved in these endeavors seem to share is the feeling from outsiders that they're wasting their time.
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4. Are you a hacker? Why? Or why not?
Absolutely. It's not something you can just erase from your personality, nor should you want to. Once you lose the desire to mess around with things, tweak programs and systems, or just pursue an answer doggedly until you get a result, you've lost a very important part of yourself. It's quite possible that many "reformed" hackers will lose that special ingredient as they become more and more a part of some other entity that demands their very souls. But for those who can resist this, or figure out a way to incorporate "legitimacy" into their hacker personalities without compromising them, there are some very interesting and fun times ahead.
5. What kind of hacking do you do?
My main interest has always been phones and rarely does a day pass when I don't experiment in some way with a phone system, voice mail system, pay phone, or my own telephone. I've always been fascinated by the fact that we're only a few buttons away from virtually anyone on the planet and I hope that I never lose that sense of marvel.
One of the most amazing things I ever got involved in was routing phone calls within the network itself -- known as blue-boxing. You can't do that as easily any more, but it was a real fun way to learn how everything was connected -- operators, services, countries, you name it. And in the not-too-distant past, there were so many different sounds phones made depending on where you were calling. Now they tend to be standardized rings, busies, etc. But the magic hasn't disappeared, it's just moved on to new things ... satellite technology, new phone networks and voice recognition technologies.
Many times these new technologies are designed by the very people who were hacking the old technologies. The result is usually more security and systems that know what people will find useful. While I've spent a great deal of time playing with phones, I get the same sense of fun from computer systems and have invested lots of time exploring the Internet. It would fill a book to outline all of the hacker potential that exists out there. And, of course, there's radio hacking, which predates a lot of the current technology. It's gotten to the point where simply listening to a certain frequency has become a challenge. It's hard to believe that it's actually turned into a crime to listen to some of these non-scrambled radio waves. But this is the price we pay when people with no understanding of technology are the ones in charge of regulating it.
6. How much time do you spend at it a week?
That's like asking how much time you spend breathing. It's always with you, you do more of it at certain times, but it's always something that's going on in your head. Even when I sleep, I dream from a hacker perspective.
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| 2. Are there legal or appropriate forms of hacking?
One of the common misconceptions is that anyone considered a hacker is doing something illegal. It's a sad commentary on the state of our society when someone who is basically seeking knowledge and the truth is assumed to be up to something nefarious. Nothing could be further from the truth
Hackers, in their idealistic naiveté, reveal the facts that they discover, without regard for money, corporate secrets or government coverups. We have nothing to hide, which is why we're always relatively open with the things we do -- whether it's having meetings in a public place or running a system for everyone to participate in regardless of background. The fact that we don't "play the game" of secrets also makes hackers a tremendous threat in the eyes of many who want to keep things away from the public.
Secrets are all well and good, but if the only thing keeping them a secret is the fact that you say it's a secret, then it's not really a very good secret. We suggest using strong encryption for those really interested in keeping things out of the hands of outsiders. It's interesting also that hackers are the ones who are always pushing strong encryption -- if we were truly interested in getting into everyone's personal affairs, it's unlikely we'd try and show them how to stay secure. There are, however, entities who are trying to weaken encryption. People should look toward them with concern, as they are the true threat to privacy.
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